Calvinism is exciting. As a way of gaining new insights into the Bible, as a God-centered way of seeing all of reality, Calvinism is exciting. The God of Calvin, Owen, Edwards, Spurgeon, Machen, Lloyd-Jones, Schaeffer and many others, the God of the Heidelberg Catechism, the Westminster Confession of Faith, and the 1689 Baptist Confession—the glorious God envisioned by these thinkers and displayed through these documents is compelling to more and more Christians today. “Reformed” theology has made a big comeback. It’s a good time to be a Calvinist.
The sad part is, we corrupt everything we touch. That too is a teaching of Calvinism, and we sure are proving it. Let’s all admit the complication we too often introduce. It works like this. The very fact that Calvinism is intellectually satisfying, and even thrilling, can make us feel superior to other Christians who don’t “get it” yet. Then we Calvinists become oblivious to how annoying we are in attempting to spread our beliefs to others who are unconvinced. Glorious theology, conveyed through an immature personality, ends up seeming inglorious and even distasteful.
A humble Arminian can be a good Christian. But a proud Calvinist cannot be a good Christian or a good Calvinist. One of the clearest messages from one end of the Bible to the other is summed up like this: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4 v 6). Any theology that is technically accurate but personally self-exalting does harm not only to people but also to that very theology. Above all, in relishing the fine points of theological debate we can lose sight of Jesus himself, without our even realizing it. Then we Calvinists leave behind us a trail of destruction in our churches and families and friendships.
In this respect, we Calvinists might be the ones who don’t “get it” yet.
But the fault is not in Reformed theology itself. That theology, so true to the Bible and honoring to the Lord, is in fact a wonderfully humbling power. It puts us down on our faces before the Lord, where we are happy, winsome, and fruitful. And that is how Humble Calvinism by Pastor Jeff Medders can help us all.
This book needed to be written, to guide us into the very humility that Calvinism should create. If God is big and we are small, if God’s power jump-starts us without our help, if the only contribution we make to our salvation is the evil that makes salvation relevant to begin with, if it is God’s eternal purpose alone that will sustain us all the way, if our Christianity is all according to Scripture and not our brainstorms, all of grace and not our merits, all by faith and not by demands, all thanks to Christ and no thanks to us, all for the glory of God alone—where does our self-exaltation fit into that picture? On the other hand, a heart at rest in our gracious Lord of glory, a heart at peace with other Christians who disagree with us—that is the heart of a true Calvinist.
John Newton, the eighteenth-century Calvinist composer of “Amazing Grace,” wisely wrote to a younger pastor, “Of all people who engage in controversy, we, who are called Calvinists, are most expressly bound by our own principles to the exercise of gentleness and moderation.” Jeff understands and embodies that. He himself has taken the journey that many of us are on—a journey from the child’s play of theological arrogance to the sweetly humbled faith that true Calvinism calls for. Jeff has been led by grace into the green pastures and beside the still waters of true Calvinism, and this book can help us all to get there and stay there, in that place where the Lord himself is wonderfully present.
Now may the Lord add, as the crowning beauty upon us all, humility, gentleness, kindness, and restraint, with a relaxed, cheerful enjoyment of one another. The modern rediscovery of Reformed theology, rather than leaving people cold, could then grow into historic revival, for the glory of God alone.
In this challenging (and surprisingly witty) book, J. A Medders reveals how a true understanding of "the five points" fuels a love of Christ and his people that builds others up, rather than tearing them down. Pick up a copy of Humble Calvinism today.
Ray Ortlund is President of Renewal Ministries. He founded Immanuel Church, Nashville, Tennessee and is a council emeritus member of The Gospel Coalition. He has written several books and participated in the ESV and NLT Bible translations. Ray is married to Jani and has four children. He holds a Ph.D. from The University of Aberdeen, Scotland.
